3 Oct
A Day in the Life: Facing the Critics
PART 4: FACING THE CRITICS OF ALTERNATIVE CANCER TREATMENT
I NEVER want Green Drink Diaries to be about negativity towards conventional cancer treatment, but I ALWAYS want people to be aware of the option for and the efficacy of alternative cancer treatment.
I had always known that alternative cancer treatment was looked at as “shady”, “unproven,” or “snake oil,” BUT I had never experienced a mine field of skepticism like I did earlier this year when I went on a popular cancer support forum to offer my support and share my experience by sharing my newly created Green Drink Diaries blog. Immediately after leaving my post, several pages of angry replies followed, resulting in my post being banned from the support forum by the moderator. Eventually the entire thread was deleted. Do you want to know what I posted to get this response from people? Read on for the full conversation…
Referring to the battle between conventional and alternative medicine, famous television host and physician, Dr. Mehmet Oz said, “There’s a civil war right now in American medicine. And that civil war is only going to be addressed if we can get the two sides talking to each other.”
When going through my holistic cancer treatment some people had negative, uninformed, and presumptuous words to say to my husband and me about our decision to forgo chemotherapy and radiation.
My goal with this post is to help people seeking out alternative cancer therapies react more effectively to criticism. Responding to well-meaning (and sometimes not so well-meaning) friends and family members can be very challenging and emotionally taxing.
6 Things to Remember When Responding to Alternative/ Holistic Cancer Criticism:
1. Know Your Audience. If on a support forum or with a group of survivors or people fighting their cancer traditionally, speak mindfully. A compassionate and understanding voice always gets you further in any audience. Also- know the territory. Look at other posts on alternative cancer topics and see how members reacted. If you’re not up for the fight, don’t post questions or advice there.
2. Know Your Facts. Before you even tell anyone your plan to attack your cancer with alternative methods, know as much as you can about the characteristics of cancer, and even more about your specific type of cancer - how it behaves (aggressive, slower moving, etc.) and how the staging works. If you seem ignorant to a critic, they are quick to dismiss your methods, making it even harder to have a meaningful conversation with them.
3. Don’t Take What They Say Personally. You don’t know what this person has been through, or what experiences they have had. They may have been affected by cancer in a horrible way, some even losing loved ones. They usually aren’t attacking YOU, but more so defending their choice in cancer treatment. Example: If a parent has lost their son after using traditional treatment, for them to even consider that there could have been another option is next to emotionally impossible. The same would apply for a parent who chose traditional treatment and their child is currently in remission.
4. No Back-and-Forth Debating. Address the foundational issue rather than specific points. Example: A critic might say, “I saw this lady, Sally Smith on Oprah who DIED from alternative treatments, so I know that they don’t work and can’t be trusted!” Rather than ask a bunch of questions about Sally Smith, you might respond, “Oh, I saw that too. You know there are hundreds of alternative treatments that can be used separately or in conjunction and you have to choose the ones you know are right for you based on sound research and [for me] much prayer. They aren’t all created equal. I’m not sure what that lady did, but many people turn to alternative treatments for their last hope after they have undergone conventional treatment for their 2nd or 3rd relapse. Their immune system is heavily damaged by that point making healing holistically difficult. It’s also important to remember that over 500,000 people die using conventional treatment every year so that’s not really a fair argument.”
5. Don’t Set Out to Change People’s Minds. Just focus on the facts! This is parallel with the religion debate. Live your life as an example of your faith, don’t shove religion down someone else’s throat. My husband has a quote he uses to remind himself of this – “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”
6. Know That Other People’s Opinions Don’t Change Your Reality. This one was difficult for me because the comments made on the forum thread impacted my belief in how I felt about my remission. Once I came out of the fog of doubt that I allowed myself to get into, I realized, “Wait a second! I am still thriving and cancer free! None of their comments have changed that I am thriving in my choice and holistic treatment worked for me.”
That said…
This was my original post from the popular cancer forum earlier this year:
Hi Everyone,
I wanted to share this with you guys since I am also a Hodgkin’s survivor but through holistic methods. I’ve gotten bolder about sharing my story. I didn’t do chemo or radiation and will now be in clinical remission 2 years in May. I started a blog to document my journey. It is www.greendrinkdiaries.com. I hop many of you will find it helpful and always feel free to ask any questions.
Cortney
www.greendrinkdiaries.com
You will see in the PDF file how my husband (seen as member name “kevinc”) and I (seen as member name “Cortney”) handled the criticism. Kevin’s defense of me began shortly after I was banned from the forum. At the time, he did much better handling it than I did, because having read the comments, I was an emotional wreck, and of no help at all. I had never experienced such animosity towards such a sincere gesture. Also seen in the PDF file, my original link was edited out by the site’s admin within hours of my post. I didn’t realize that linking to a personal blog would be received so negatively. Looking back, I want to let you know that I am now aware of my mistakes in my post and in my tact. It may have seemed harmless to me: I was posting on a cancer support site read by tens of thousands of cancer patients who were looking for support from people going through the same thing they were. But they didn’t take it that way.
You see, I WASN’T going through the same things they were. I wasn’t aware of the physical and emotional pain and sickness that they were going through in trying to fight their cancer with chemotherapy and radiation. Some of them had been battling the disease for years with multiple recurrences and bone marrow transplants. They were experiencing side-effects I didn’t even know existed until I read some of their responses. To post what I did, though I told the truth, was a slap in the face for them. In their eyes, there I came, waltzing in to plug my new website on my first post to their online “family.” I was incredibly naive in my belief that my visit would be welcomed, let alone appreciated.
Note: The thread no longer exists online because the moderator deleted it. Out of respect for the forum and its members, all identifiable forum data has been blurred and member names have been changed for anonymity.
Here are some samples of the other members’ responses to my original post and what they skimmed from my blog. These are some of the nicer comments:
“If green milkshakes and free-range meat cured Hodgkin’s, I promise Cortney, my board-certified Hematologist, who cares about his patients so much it breaks his heart….he would tell me to skip the chemo and drink the green milkshakes. But that’s not what he says. He says, here’s the ABVD. It’s going to suck. But you will get the chance to grow old because of it.
Again, Cortney, I am happy for you. You apparently beat Hodgkin’s, and that is amazing. But I can assure you that the vast majority of people that beat Hodgkin’s will need chemotherapy, and to say otherwise is irresponsible and, yes, dangerous.”
“I don’t buy it. You would have been prescribed ABVD, and I’ve never heard of HcG to monitor Hodgkin’s.
Bill [name changed for anonymity] said everything way nicer than I would have, so I’ll leave it at that.”
“Green milkshakes do not cure Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. There is not a single scientific study even suggesting this.
Several things jump out about this person’s story, assuming it is true.
I would question whether the diagnosis and pathology were correct. NLP Hodgkin’s is not characterized by the Reed-Sternberg cells the classical forms have. As we all know, pathology can be difficult with lymphomas and this person was diagnosed with a rare kind of Hodgkin’s. It is possible the pathology was simply interpreted wrong and this person did not actually have cancer. There have certainly been occasional, rare misdiagnoses before.
Spontaneous remissions of cancer (miracles of sort) have occasionally been reported, but they are not related to drinking green milkshakes. This may be what happened here if this person did have cancer.
I wish the OP well, but I urge anyone reading this to consider the entire lack of ANY scientific evidence backing up this person’s claims. There is also simply no way to verify this person’s story.”
“Cortney,
This is absolutely NOT TRUE!!! I have been a nurse for 31 years and have NEVER seen anyone diagnosed with HL “cured” without chemo/radiation.”
“Courtney, I hope that you aren’t responsible for leading anyone with the Hodge astray.
PLEASE if you are reading this thread – don’t listen to the OP.
ABVD and radiation saved my son’s life! His hematologist, who happens to be a collegue of Mike’s hematologist, would never have asked him to go through both if a green milkshake could have done the same.
Sorry if we hurt your feelings Courtney – but I don’t think we are interested in snake oil.”
“So the real question at hand is:
Is it wrong for me to wish bad things upon you when, in the back of my mind, I know it will prevent you from propagating your message which has the potential of killing others?”
As you can see, the civil war between allopathic and holistic medicine, as mentioned by Dr. Oz, is a reality that cannot be ignored. But hopefully with mutual understanding and respect of personal choice, we can all come to achieve the one goal we stand absolutely united in – defeating cancer for good!
Lastly, it’s important to know that not everyone is a critic. Later this week, I will share how this same kind of post on a different forum of cancer fighters was met with the exact opposite results. Stay tuned! 
Posted by shanna
Good grief! I mean, I’ve gotten some resistance (Planet Cancer), but NOTHING like this! Most people are curious, although your are correct, some defensive. But wow! I’m so sorry you went through that. Just know that people will eventually start to see the light, but fear can be mighty powerful and override common sense somethings. I am grateful that you’ve been so brave to continue sharing your story. People NEED to hear this.
Posted by Mary Hoffman
Yup – - that is the way of things, and you summed it up well. People in pain are mean and dangerous, just like our four-legged friends. When Jesus sent out the 70, he told them this would happen. Let your peace return to you, and save your experience for people who are eager to hear it.
Posted by susan
ugh. props to kev for stepping in. reading the comments got me SO upset for you. shiz. i’m glad this is in the past, lessons have been learned and super thankful you’re healthy and doing well! LOVE you guys!
Posted by Chris Wark
Great post Cortney
Of course I remember when all this went down, man it was ugly!
I went to the site to comment and found the post had been deleted.
So I created a new thread that said this:
Hmmm
So I came back to comment on it and I find it very interesting that the entire thread was deleted.
Actually “interesting” is the wrong word…
So what are we trying to hide here?
I’m being rhetorical of course.
Clearly the thread was deleted to hide how nasty so many of you were today.
Cortney has a big heart, an amazing story, and nothing but good intentions.
I’m a stage 3 cancer survivor.
7 years out.
And didn’t do chemo either.
In fact I did a lot of the same stuff she did.
Raw foods, juicing, green smoothies (gasp)
and ton of alternative therapies.
Whether or not any of you want to know about it,
there is a huge world of alternative survivors out there.
If you start looking, you’ll be amazed by what you’ll find.
What I found saved my life.
Cortney is terrific.
So terrific that I spent many hours of my life
interviewing her for a featured article on my site,
because her story is important.
But before any of you get your panties in a wad,
just relax, I wouldn’t dream of posting a link to it.
Looking forward to being spit on by all the friendly folks here.
-Chris Wark
p.s. Before you waste too much time and energy in your responses,
keep in mind this thread will be probably be deleted just like Cortney’s.
So that was my post on the cancer forum. I never went back to check the responses.
So many people in conventional cancer treatment have put their entire faith, hope, and trust
into horrible brutal methods with very low success rates.
They’ve put the blinders on and have a head-in-the-sand mentality.
They don’t want to know what else is out there, because knowledge begets accountability and action.
The reality is that some people survive chemo and radiation treatments for cancer,
most do not.
People in conventional treatment are desperate and terrified, and when you challenge their beliefs,
even in the most sincere helpful way, you are backing them into a corner and their fear can turn to anger toward you.
It’s pathetic, but not surprising that this forum deleted your thread about natural methods, the cancer industry has been trying to discredit natural methods for 80+ years.
Posted by AZ Survivor
Hi there! So sorry you went through that. It is sad that people cannot be open to new ideas and (even if they are doing conventional treatment) see the benefits of alternative treatments. Sadly I have seen a few people (mostly on Facebook but in some other areas too) who claim to have healed themselves naturally when they were NEVER diagnosed (the people I am referring to were “self” diagnosed) with cancer…It is these people who hurt it for others…They make claims with no medical support: did they really have cancer? What type? How aggressive? How do they know they are “cured” if they have no medical (alternative or other) follow up…So I guess the problem is on both sides of the fence..So hard to find the proper balance BUT this post was very well written and it is obvious that you give much thought to every-ones journey! Keep up the good work!
Posted by Pam
Cortney, this was such an interesting article. So sorry that you had to go through all of this. I, like you and Chris, have met so many people on line who have healed their cancers by doing the same things you did — healing their entire body, mind and soul. We all need to keep sharing the healing information — that no matter what one’s diagnosis is, the body is meant to heal itself and we just give it a chance. It’s those people who just think they can take a pill (or chemo or radiation) and have the cancer go away that are missing out on the benefits of a total and complete healing through prayer, diet, meditation, exercise, and detox. Keep up the good work! Pam
Posted by Brittany @ The Pistachio Project
Wonderful post Cortney! Sadly people just aren’t very open to alternative methods. Whether it be healing cancer or cleaning your house. While I can’t say I’ve been through what you have, I totally understand the hostility that comes from others when you mention anything natural or alternative. Loved this post and you’ve inspired me to do a similar one for the crunchies.
Posted by Lucie
Yeesh, so sorry you were subjected to such a bashing just for telling your – true, inspiring, and survivor’s – story.
For the past few days I’ve been mulling over why some people get so irrate when alternative cancer care is brought up – it’s so bizarre… Especially when you’re proof that natural protocols work in bringing the body back to balance, which is what it’s all about.
All I can say is thank you, thank you,thank you for putting your story out there, and to others who’re doing the same; it’s so incredibly, totally, completely needed for those of use who are following the same path.
Posted by Jennifer
Cortney, I am so sorry you were met with such animosity. Your intentions were good so that is all that matters, you put good energy out there in a sincere effort to help others. I stumbled upon a post by you on BBC by pure chance, and from reading your blogs I have now changed the way we eat in our household, we are all so much healthier.
In January it will be my one year anniversary of drinking green smoothies and eating more raw veggies. I have passed on your blog to everyone I know in the hopes that they will make healthier choices for their family so please know you have affected many lives for the better. A big thank you to you from my family! God bless!
Jennifer
Posted by Beth in MA
ugh. I took the time to read the pdf, even though I knew what it would be like before I did. It was painful. I’ve been a part of 3 different “support” blogs in my life, all different topics, and I’ve left them all because of the flash-mob mentality, and the way it feels when the swarm attacks.
But when I back up a bit, I am reminded of “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. You’re out there. You’re searchable. You’re patiently waiting for anyone who searches. I found you.
I hope I never had to make the decision between chemo and non-chemo (I figure to hedge my odds by changing my nutrition now…), but if I am, I’ll know where to find you.
Kevin? Hooah, baby. You earned your husband points there, my friend. Nice job.
Posted by martine aerts-niddam
What are your green smootihes made of?
you had Hodgkins. I have NON hodgkins. would it work?
Martine
Posted by Mary Lou Smith
Hello Courtney and Kevin – as I was reading the pdf, all I could think about was how anger can cause disease, and those people certainly personified anger! I have had so many people in my circle choose to die, rather than look at alternative approaches to becoming well. I literally begged a friend to pass information along to his relatives who had a 6 y/o die. I have helped people who were given months to live…years ago. But the people who are intrenched in the allopathic medical model are for the most part so intrenched that all that needs doing at the end is toss in the dirt to cover them up. Those of us who believe in holistic approaches are considered ‘kooks,’ but we have to keep on keeping on – once in a while someone truly hears, and it is a beautiful thing! I think some people are so afraid of taking responsibility for their health, they just ‘trust the doctors’ and then it is out of their hands. I could go on and on – mostly I just wanted to say I ached for both of you as I was reading those venom-filled replies to your post on the “support” group – ugly people behaving badly. Hope you continue to thrive and prosper!
Posted by Mary Lou Smith
I’m sorry Cortney – I misspelled your name. :{
Posted by GreenDrinkDiaries
Under the “I Beat Cancer” tab or my smoothies tab or the post called “The Anti-Cancer 3 Day” there are recipes for ym green smoothie. I believe it will work for most cancers really, including Non-Hodgkins, but find a doctor who will support you and DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. Everyone’s cases and cancers are different and there are many, many other factors and variables to consider.
Posted by susan
God made the earth livable and sustainable. Animals cure themselves with weeds and veggies intake.
That is of course my opinion and I myself am not submitting to chemo and radiation which will result to destruction of my immune system.
My salute to Cortney and husband, Kevin for sharing their experiences. People don’t have to buy their testimony if not interested but for me it’s worth gambling and nothing to worry about since it’s natural compared to allowing synthetic fluids to enter my body without even knowing what will happen next…surely my life may extend a little longer with chemo and radiation but I want my life back not just a little longer.
Again, that’s my opinion and disinterested people don’t get mad you don’t have to believe just do what you believe is right and enjoy life.
Posted by Lynn46
Cortney, just came across your blog URL on Ty Bollinger’s http://www.cancertruth.net. I find your story very intriguing. I am sorry for the emotional wringer you were put through by that forum’s “mainstream-believers” (sheeple, all). Obviously, you learned some important lessons about the “human nature.” So, a bad experience actually became a very valuable learning experience for you. Now, you are a much wiser person.
I have bought and read Ty Bollinger’s book and those of some other authoritative authors on alternative/holistic cancer therapies, such as Bill Henderson. I had surgery for a rare, slow-growing pancreas tumor 6 years ago (but did not receive any “poison/burn” treatments). Still doing well today with only 1/2 of a pancreas and no spleen. But I often wonder when “something” else might happen. I’m now 65 (with most of my life now lived, so to speak). What I DO KNOW is that I will never again undergo a major surgery in the future for any kind of tumor, and I will NEVER agree to chemo or radiation. I completely agree with and, most importantly, believe that natural therapies are the only way to survive malignant growths and to have a decent quality of life while undertaking the healing process.
I will read the section you have on this site about your “green-food drink” recipes. I’m sure you are still eating this healing food daily and you probably always will–prevention is always paramount.